When Gregg, now 78, coached the Argonauts in 1979 he was an imposing figure; a 6-foot-5 icon known as the “Iron Man” to most of his players for a then-record 188 consecutive NFL games. He had an intimidating voice and both a quick wit and temper that was cloaked in charm.

He was part of six championships, five with Green Bay but his success never spilled over into the CFL. His only season in Toronto ended with a 5-11 record, before he returned to coach the Bengals in the NFL. He returned to the CFL with Shreveport in 1994-95 but his teams won just eight of 36 games.

Although the cause of the debilitating neurological disorder is unknown, Gregg, his family and his neurologist, Dr. Rajeev Kumar, of the Colorado Neurological Institute’s Movement Disorders Center in Denver, say his disease may be related to numerous concussions he suffered during his playing career in the 1950s at Southern Methodist and from 1956-71 in the NFL.

INSIDE JOB

Kevin Kolb may have been the most valuable player in Arizona’s win over Philadelphia Sunday.

And, he didn’t even get on the field.

Kolb, who played in Philadelphia last season, spent the afternoon relaying signals from Eagles’ coach Andy Reid and quarterback Michael Vick to the Arizona defence.

“During the two-minute drill, you almost feel guilty,” Kolb told a Philadelphia radio station. “Mike’s sitting there giving the signals, and I’m standing there on our sidelines, screaming at our corners, ‘Hey it’s a go ball, hey he’s running a screen, hey he’s running a slant.’”

Kolb down-played his influence on the game, saying it probably helped on only a few plays but Vick still had his worst game as an Eagle, completing just 16 of 34 passes for 128 yards and two interceptions. He averaged just 3.8 yards per attempt.

LIONS DENY PLAYING DIRTY

Ndamukong Suh is pleading self defence.

Last year it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who had to defend themselves from charges of playing dirty. This year it appears to be the Lions.

Suh said it was just “part of the game” when he tackled Chicago’s Jay Cutler, resulting in the quarterback losing his helmet.

Suh also came to the defence of his team for a scuffle that ensued when quarterback Matt Stafford was intercepted by Tim Jennings, who was shoved out of bounds by Nate Burleson. Stafford grabbed D.J. Moore by the helmet and threw him to the ground. Moore immediately hopped up and plowed Stafford, who by then was already also on the ground — sparking a skirmish and Moore’s ejection.

Suh said the altercation between the teams occurred because Moore went after Stafford and that the Lions quarterback “had to protect himself.”

“That’s a no-no on our team,” he said on ESPN. “You don’t go after our quarterback.”

Moore said he expected to be fined.

Suh didn’t expect any such thing. “I like to punish the quarterback. I like to punish running backs for them trying to make plays on my defence,” he said, when asked about the Lions’ playing dirty, in a radio interview. “Whether it’s dirty or aggressive or whatever that may be, we’re going to continue to play that way and make sure we stand up and make sure teams don’t run over us.”

Stafford, meantime, has been doing his best: Who? Me? impression. “He (Moore) kind of blocked me and I was just trying to get him off me best I knew how,” Stafford said. “And I guess he didn’t like the way I did it. He wanted to ask me about it.”

Yeah, right. A regular United Nations these guys.

BULLETS FLYING OVER GIANTS

New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz wasn’t taking any chances.

When the bullets started flying Tuesday, he hit the ground at a swanky Manhattan nightclub.

“Obviously, initially you’re scared,” Cruz said, after a man opened fire, killing 44-year-old Arthur Artiz, and wounding two others. “Obviously things like that happen. You don’t want them to.”

Several other pro athletes were with a group of Giants attending a birthday party for Cruz at the Juliet Supper Club, but none were directly involved in the shooting and they were in a different part of the club at the time.

“I don’t remember how many (gunshots I heard), to be honest with you,” Cruz told the Bergen Record. “There were enough.”

Giants players Chris Canty, Hakeem Nicks, Antrel Rolle and Aaron Ross were at the Juliet Supper Club at about 2:30 a.m. when a 43-year-old man was shot and killed. Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Branden Albert; Philadelphia Eagles safety Jarrad Page, and NBA players John Wall, Carlos Boozer, Kemba Walker, Russell Westbrook and Chris Duhon also were at the party.

“There is nothing to indicate that any of the well-known individuals in the club that night had anything to do with the shooting,” New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul J. Browne told the New York Times.

Things didn’t get any better for Page Wednesday as the Eagles cut him, although they claimed it had nothing to do with his fraternizing with the Giants’ players.

Cruz said he didn’t see any of the victims. “There was a melee that was going on. So we kind of just waited. We sat under the table and waited for the melee to calm down before we left. Then we got out of there as soon as we could. We didn’t know if we were going to get caught in a stampede.”